Some Sunny Day
by pippin143
Summary: <html><head></head>There's no doubt Castle was the one who dropped the money into the dumpster, but perhaps the emotionally compromised detectives missed something in the footage.</html>


"There." She says, voice firm and sounding like her normal, authoritative self. "Go back." But they all knew she was far from it. She was broken, and in solving this case she expected to piece herself back together. Hopefully with her heart not in two.

The group watches in dead silence as the tape rewinds, the small man backtracking unnaturally then jerking still as he walks forward again. He paces to the dumpster and opens it up. His movements seem unnatural, like he's being watched. And he holds a briefcase.

"That's the client dropping off the cash." Ryan says, quickly turning away to the desk. Espoisto follows him, grabbing for the police line phone.

"I'll set up a canvas," he says eagerly, already dialing and talking into the speaker. "Someone see where this guy came from and where he went." The two begin rambling as they try to put everything in order for the next step in their investigation.

She watches the footage continues. The man opens the lid and fumbles with the case, eventually letting it drop inside, as if somehow reluctant to do so. But something's wrong. She stares at this strange little man on film, this man connected to her fiancé's disappearance, and can't help but feel she's known him. That she's touched him. That she's loved him.

"Wait, freeze that." She says as she catches him glance toward the camera. "Zoom in." The screen pans and a box opens up on the suspects face, ballooning it across the tech board. She does know that man. And he's alive. Her heart flutters for a brief moment, but suddenly stops, catching mid-beat in her throat. He's alive, and he's not here.

"It can't be" Ryan breathes, his eyes darting all over the board, desperate for some logical explanation for what they all see.

"It is." Esposito growls in disbelief. "That's Castle." He turns to her and Ryan, his voice both condemning and begging for doubt. "He's the one who dropped off the cash?!"

She can barely process what she sees. The man on the buzzing screen is Castle. She's looking for words, mouth gaping, but none come. She needs to say something, do something. But she can't. She can't even stop herself from shaking.

"Do you want me to run it again?" Tori, the tech analyst, asks.

She can't look at it any longer. "I need to get some air." Darting out of the room, she feels her insides crumbling within her, her heart sinking and her voice choking. She needs to get away from it. Maybe it's not real, she tells herself, maybe this isn't happening. But it is. Her hand flies to her mouth to keep herself from crying out.

"Yeah, Tori," Ryan says with quiet desperation from within the room. "Run it one more time, please." He's still clinging to hope. Blinking, she feels the hot tears streak down her face.

"What are you going to see that you didn't see before?" Esposito demands angrily, his faith in Castle dying with each word.

"Maybe we missed something." Ryan pipes hopefully, watching the video play again.

"Yeah," his partner scoffs bitterly, "We missed something. Castle's in on this...planned the whole thing." His voice breaks on the last words and he turns back to the desk, slamming his hands down and bowing his back.

Why's this happening? She laments, her breath coming in choked gasps as she stifles the crying with her hand. How could he do this? Her feet walk her back and forth as she runs what she saw over and over in her head. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe it wasn't him—a look alike? It'd been done before. But she was kidding herself. She knew it was him before she even saw his face on the screen. It was his clothes, his walk, his movements. This time the sob escapes. She bites her knuckles to make herself stop.

"Becket!" It's Ryan. A cringe runs up her back as she fears being caught this way. This broken. He rushes out and grabs her shoulder, turning her to him. "You've got to see this."

See what? There's nothing left to see. Castle has paid to have his own car crushed, to derail their investigation. She lets Ryan pull her into the room. The footage has been rewound and he bids Tori to press play.

They watch as Castle walks up the dumpster, hesitantly lifts the lid, drops the brief case in, glances at the camera, shuts the bin, and walks back the way he came.

"Ryan—," She stammers, trying to blot her face. She did not see anything new.

"Rewind to when he opens the dumpster." He says, pointing at the screen. "Watch his hands."

The mini Castle fumbles with the briefcase, like it's slipping from his grip, then easily lets it drop down. They replay it a few times. No. He's not fumbling with the case.

"Is that sign language?" Esposito asks, aghast.

"And I can bet you can guess what he's saying." Ryan says, crossing a set of shaky arms.

"3 x k." She breathes with all she can muster. She doesn't know whether to be relieved that Castle didn't betray her or horrified by what is to come. Or both. "It's 3xk."

"Jerry Tyson?" Esposito says, bewildered, though he too is experiencing the same mixed emotions of relief and horror. "The guy is dead."

"No." She says, voice tight as she stares at the pure terror she can now read in her beloved's eyes. The serial killer said he'd come back. "Some sunny day…"


End file.
